I've recently been contacted by a couple of recruiters who are trying to place me with a law firm. Has anyone actually landed a job using a recruiter? If you've had a postive/negative experience dealing with recruiters, please comment because I'd like to know if it's worth my time.

I would agree with the previous reply - it's generally better to contact individuals responsible for hiring directly, and NOT to go through a recruiter or head hunter.

The reason for this is of course the premium that a hiring organization would have to pay to the recruiter/head hunter. I was told, by an individual responsible for hiring me, how grateful the organization was that I HAD contacted them directly and saved them a significant amount of money!

Also, I think it's in the job applicant's best interest to do his or her own research on possible employers, and to target their search to those that are the best fit for them - that way, it's easy to explain in an interview exactly why you want to work for that organization, and it's much more convincing!

A further tip - it's important to avoid giving the recruiter any impression at all that you want to be represented by them. One attorney I know was hired by contacting a company directly, but then had a dispute with a recruiter that claimed to be representing her.

I got an interview and a job offer through a recruiter. I ended up not accepting, though. There's really not much downside to working with a recruiter. If a firm does not want to pay a fee, they will usually state, "No recruiters, please." Recruiters then will deal with firms who are willing to spring for the fee. Hypothetically, you could end up with this scenario: Candidate A and Candidate B are neck-and-neck for the finish line. Candidate A's resume was submitted via a recruiter. Candidate B's resume was submitted directly by the candidate. The firm chooses Candidate B in order to avoid paying the fee. In practice, I'm not sure whether this scenario is likely, because two candidates are not likely to be so close that the fee would be the decisive factor in hiring.

I make it a practice to stay on good terms with recruiters who cold-call me. If I'm not interested, but I know a colleague who might be, I'll pass the recuiter's contact info along. Always wise to have a Plan B and a Plan C. One recruiter even passed along leads to firms who did not deal with recruiters, but had the sort of work I was looking for.

A further tip - it's important to avoid giving the recruiter any impression at all that you want to be represented by them. One attorney I know was hired by contacting a company directly, but then had a dispute with a recruiter that claimed to be representing her.

Yes, this is an important point. If you've already submitted a resume to Firm A directly, and a recruiter calls you about an opening at Firm A, be sure to tell the recruiter that you have already applied directly and can't work with the recruiter on that opening. On the other hand, if you get a lead from a recruiter, I think it's important not to bypass the recruiter by submitting your resume directly to the firm in hopes that you have a better chance of getting hired because the firm doesn't need to pay a fee. Furthermore, if you deal with more than one recruiter, it's also important not to have more than one recruiter submit your resume to the same firm. If Recruiter A has already submitted my resume to Firm A, and Recruiter B tells me about an opening at Firm A, I tell Recruiter B that I'm already working with another recruiter on an opening at Firm A.

I got an interview and a job offer through a recruiter. I ended up not accepting, though. There's really not much downside to working with a recruiter. If a firm does not want to pay a fee, they will usually state, "No recruiters, please." Recruiters then will deal with firms who are willing to spring for the fee. Hypothetically, you could end up with this scenario: Candidate A and Candidate B are neck-and-neck for the finish line. Candidate A's resume was submitted via a recruiter. Candidate B's resume was submitted directly by the candidate. The firm chooses Candidate B in order to avoid paying the fee. In practice, I'm not sure whether this scenario is likely, because two candidates are not likely to be so close that the fee would be the decisive factor in hiring.

I can't speak for law firms, but I have been on the hiring side of the table for some rather large corporate patent depts. Money matters. A headhunters fee impacts the budget. Is HH-candidate 30% better than non-HH candidate B? Sometimes yes; often no. It may not prevent one from getting an offer, but it is definately a consideration that is "part of the package"

I got an interview and a job offer through a recruiter. I ended up not accepting, though. There's really not much downside to working with a recruiter. If a firm does not want to pay a fee, they will usually state, "No recruiters, please." Recruiters then will deal with firms who are willing to spring for the fee. Hypothetically, you could end up with this scenario: Candidate A and Candidate B are neck-and-neck for the finish line. Candidate A's resume was submitted via a recruiter. Candidate B's resume was submitted directly by the candidate. The firm chooses Candidate B in order to avoid paying the fee. In practice, I'm not sure whether this scenario is likely, because two candidates are not likely to be so close that the fee would be the decisive factor in hiring.

I can't speak for law firms, but I have been on the hiring side of the table for some rather large corporate patent depts. Money matters. A headhunters fee impacts the budget. Is HH-candidate 30% better than non-HH candidate B? Sometimes yes; often no. It may not prevent one from getting an offer, but it is definately a consideration that is "part of the package"

Ah, but a major distinction in a firm vs a corporation is that in a firm time literally is money If you're a partner billing at $500+/hr and swamped with clients, you'll rather ante up for trusted recruiters to screen candidates than sifting through piles of resumes yourself.

I realize that there is some trepidation to working with recruiters. Having worked as a legal recruiter for over 15 years, I can assure you that there are many benefits! First, we screen jobs to support client law firms that are reputable and willing to invest paying a fee to hire only the very best applicants. Placement fees are paid by the employer. Secondly, recruiters can specifically find you job opportunities that match you exact job criteria. We are an excellent source of market insights! You can rely on recruiters to coach you during the interview process and help you get top jobs. If you want to learn more, please feel free to contact me at 706-367-0056. Thanks for reading my post!